Knotters



Dec. 26, 1967 J. K. AIN 3,360,289

KNOTTERS Filed Aug. 18, 1965 e Sheets-Sheet 1- //V VE N 70?.

Dec. 26', 1967 J. K. W-AIN 3,360,289

' KNOTTERS I Filed Aug. 18, 1965 1 6 Sheets-Sheet '2 32L K Wain Dec. 26; 1967 J. K. WAIN 3,36

KNOTTERS Filed Aug. 18, 1965 e Sheets-Sheet 5 .Toim K Wm/v M/VENTOP.

Dec; 26, 1967 J. K. WAIN 3,360,289

KNOTTERS Filed Aug. 18, 1965 s Sheets-Sheet i BY H Wm United States Patent 3,360,289 KNOTTERS John K. Wain, Cheadle Hulme, England, assignor to Wildt Mellor Bromley Limited, a company of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, and Isle of Man Filed Aug. 18, 1965, Ser. No. 480,563 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Aug. 19, 1964, 33,797/64 14 Claims. (Cl. 2892) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A knotter having side plates with yarn guide slots, rotary tying heads between the plates, means for rotation thereof, means on the heads for cutting surplus yarn and holding yarn ends, crossers for positioning the yarn ends, a stripper for pulling the knot convolutions over yarn ends held in a tying head and demountable slide plates, crossers, etc. having at least two positions whereby the knotter may be assembled to tie one of a plurality of knots.

This invention relates to knotters, that is to say devices operable manually, or by power, which function to knot together two ends of yarn and simultaneously to cut off surplus lengths of yarn end beyond the knot. Such devices are hereinafter generically termed knotters.

There are several well-known constructions of knotters but basically all of these embody at least one rotary tying head, two side or guide plates, at least one set of crossers, and a stripper. The functions of these parts are well known and are respectively as follows:

The side plates guide the entry of the yarn ends, the rotary tying head and crossers then make the embryo knot convolutions. The tying head embodies combined scissors and grippers which then cut off surplus yarn ends while holding the new end of the yarn. The stripper then strips the convolutions off the tying head or heads thereby pulling the new ends through the convolutions to complete the knot.

The diiference between a knotter for one kind of knot and that for another, for example to tie a weavers knot or a fishermans knot, lies in the number, location, timing and arrangement of the aforesaid mechanisms, and at present, so far s is known, none of the known knotters is convertible to make one knot or another. It is known however that by incorrect threading of the yarns to a fishermans knotter, the mechanism will tie what is called a dog knot, but this is to be distinguished from convertibility.

The present invention is based upon the appreciation of the aforesaid common factors nd the possibility of arranging same that by simple change of parts or of their positions, a knotter can be converted to tie at least two different knots, such as a fishermans knot or a weavers knot, at will.

According to the invention a knotter comprising side plates formed with yarn guide slots, a pair of rotary tying heads between said plates, means for rotating such heads, means on the heads for cutting surplus yarn and holding the yarn ends, at least one set of crossers for positioning the yarn ends relative to at least one of the tying heads, and a stripper for pulling the yarn embryo knot convolutions over the yarn ends held by at least one of the tying heads to complete the knot, is characterised by a frame on which the parts of the knotter mechanism are assembled as a unit and to which frame the side plates are detachably secured, means for mounting or dismounting a set of crossers adjacent to at least one of the side plates,

means for enabling the tying heads to be moved axially to alternative positions relative to the yarn guide slots in the side plates, and means for moving the stripper to register with at least one of the tying heads in each said alternative position of the tying heads without otherwise dismantling the assembly, whereby the parts may be assembled in the first instance or re-assembled as a knotter for tying any one of a plurality of alternative knots.

The knotter aforesaid may be further characterised by means for reversing the direction of rotation of one of the tying heads and by side plates constructed for tying a fishermans knot, whereby the yarn ends received from opposite directions are tied together in a form of doubleweavers knot; or having its parts arranged for tying a fishermans knot characterised by two sets of crossers whereby a form of double Weavers knot is tied.

The expression embryo knot is used herein to describe the convolutions imparted to the yarn by the rotary tying head or heads prior to stripping.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation in part section and with one side plate removed showing one example of a knotter made in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the side plate removed for FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an end elevation of the complete knotter shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIGS. 4 nd 5 are plan and elevation of one of the tying heads.

FIG. 6 is a side elevation of the knotter shown in FIG. 1 similarly in part section with one side plate removed, showing the rotary tying heads moved relatively to the side plates for tying a Weavers knot and so that one of such heads is centralised.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary section on line 77 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a side elevation similar to FIG. 1 of a modified construction of knotter made in accordance with the present invention.

FlG. 9 is a part sectional end elevation of the knotter shown in FIG. 8 and similar to FIG. 3.

FIG. 10 is a section on line 1010 of FIG. 8 similar to FIG. 7.

FlG. 11 is a plan of the knotter shown in FIG. 8.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 the knotter arranged for tying a fishermans knot comprises a body part or frame, to which all the other parts are attached or on which they are mounted, consisting of a tube 10 and end brackets 11 and 12 of a frame for the knotter assembly. This tube and brackets may be made as a single integral part. Adjustably mounted in each of the brackets is a cylindrical housing 13 carrying a bearing bush 14, and formed at its inner end with an eccentric recess 15 constituting a cam ring. Each housing is adjustable both axially and rotatably in its bracket and is adapted to be secured after adjustment by grub screws 16. Journaled in each bush 14 is a rotary knotter spindle 17 formed with a spur pinion 18 on its outer end, the inner end being slotted diametrically to receive the complementary end of the body of a combined tying head and scissors 19. Except for the complementary shaping of the end of the tying head body this head with its scissors not separately identified, is a standard part. The tying head (see FIG. 4) is separably secured to the knotter spindle by an axial screw 20. A hemispherical part 19a can be fixed as shown in FIG. 4

- to the tying head 19 to act as a thread guide and to re der 24 pivotally mounted at 25 with its piston rod carrying a yoke 26 pivotally connected to the end of the arm 23. Fixed to the brackets 11 and 12 aforesaid are side plates 27 and 28 (the former being shown in FIG. 2) by screws located at 29 and 30. The plates 27 and 28 (of which the latter is on the side from which the yarn is entered and which is hereinafter termed the entry plate) are formed with slots to receive the yarn ends, which are substantially of known shape for the formation of a fishermans knot and they are in known position relative to the rotary knotting heads for such purpose. These side plates 27, 28 are detachable for interchange with others, as described later.

Attached to the tube are a pair of lugs 31 in which are journaled spindles 32 each carrying one of a pair of crossers 33, 34 and 33b, 341;, secured by screws 35 (see FIG. 7). Fixed to the bracket 12 is a bar 36 on which is pivotally mounted at 37 a lever 38, one end of which carries a boss 39 located in slots 33a, 34a of the crossers. On the other end of the lever 38 is an adjustable fork 40 carrying a roller 41 adapted to be engaged by a cam 42 attached to one of the quadrants 22. A return spring 43 is connected by one end to the inner end of the lever 38, the other end being connected to a bracket 44 located on the bar 36. An adjustable stop, not shown, is provided to limit the descent of the lever 38 and thereby to define the at rest position of the crossers 33 and 34. Also forming part of the crosser mechanism is a cross-yarntension control and consists of a spindle 45 (FIG. 1) rotatably mounted in the bracket 12 carrying at one end a leaf spring 46 engaging a cam 47 mounted on the quadrant 22. On the other end of the spindle 45 is a bracket 48 carrying a screw 49 adjustably engageable with the crossers 33, 34 to press them together. A torsion spring 50 mounted on the spindle 45 normally holds the screw f om engagement with the crossers.

Fixed in the bracket 11 is a rod 51 carrying a block 52 in which is pivotally mounted a cross pin 53 having a through hole in which is slidably mounted a stripper rod 54 having a hook-shaped stripper head 55 on its upper end. On the lower end of the stripper rod is a yoke 56 pivotally connected to the one end of a lever 57. ttached to the bracket 11 is a further bracket 58 to which the other end of the lever 57 is pivotally connected by means of a pivot pin 59 to which is also attached a lever arm 60. A tension spring 61 operates to hold the lever 57 in the position shown in FIG. 1.

Attached to the spindle 21 in addition to the lever arm 23 and on its other end is a lever arm 62 carrying an adjustable striker screw 63, the end of which is adapted to engage the arm 60 to actuate the stripper mechanism.

In operation, both ends of yarn, to be tied together, are laid from behind the side plate 28 with the surplus ends overhanging the side plate 27. The shaft 21 is then rotated anti-clockwise viewed from the right hand side of FIG. 1. The first part of such rotation moves both the quadrants 22 so that the one carrying the cam 42 allows the spring 43 to turn the lever 38 which operates the single set of crossers to cross the yarn ends in known manner relative to the two tying heads 19. Further rotation of the shaft 21 rotates the heads to form the embryo knot convolutions and the scissors, rotating in the cams 15, operate to cut off the surplus yarn ends. During this operation the yarn is prevented from getting behind the tying heads by the hemispherical guide 19a. The yarn ends, after the surplus ends beyond the embryo knot are severed, are still held in known manner in the tying head assembly until the stripper pulls the embryo knot convolutions, formed by the rotation of the tying head, over the tying heads thus completing and tightening the knot all in known manner. The stripper 54, 55 is actuated during the last part of rotation of the shaft 21 by the lever 57, the arm 60 of which is engaged by the end of the screw 63 carried by the arm 62 fixed to the shaft 21. During this stripping operation the screw 49 is pressed against the crossers 33, 34 thereby trapping the yarn between them so that the yarn is held and the action of the stripper not only completes but tightens the knot.

After tying a knot the mechanism returns to the initial position shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 ready to receive two more yarn ends to be tied together.

The knotter shown in FIG. 6 has many parts the same as shown in FIG. 1 and such parts are given the same reference numerals. The tensioning assembly consisting of the parts 45, 46, 47, 48, 49 and 50 are not required and are omitted from FIG. 6, but they can be left in place when converting the knotter of FIG. 1 for a fishermans knot, to the knotter of FIG. 6 for tying a weavers knot. A second set of crossers 33b, 34b is provided clamped to the crossers 33, 34 of the other by the screw 35 so that the sets move simultaneously (FIG. 7). The side plate 27 (FIG. 2) has been removed and replaced by another side plate 28a which has yarn guide slots identical in shape to those of the plate 28 but of opposite hand so that the bottom of the slots are in line viewed in FIG. 6. The conversion for tying the weavers knot is completed by moving the tying heads to the right, viewed in FIG. 6 until the nose of the tying head is centred between the two slots.

In operation, when the shaft 21 is turned the crossers cross the yarn ends relative to the single central rotary tying head in known manner. During the last part of rotation of the tying heads and before the scissors of either of them is actuated, the off-centre tying head picks up one of the surplus yarn ends to sever it.

In the modification shown in FIGS. 8 to 11 the construction is largely the same as that of FIGS. 1 to 7 and where the parts are substantially the same they have been given the same reference numerals.

One of the main modifications is as regards the crosseractuating mechanism. In the new construction shown in FIGS. 8 to 11 is a cam 64 secured to the shaft 21 adjacent to the gear quadrant 22, said cam having a cam slot 64a. Engaged with the cam slot is a bowl 65 mounted on a shoulder screw 66 and carried by a lever 67 which is pivoted at 68 to an adjustable bracket 69. The bracket 69 is mounted on a bracket 70 secured by a grub-screw 71 to the bar 36. A screw 72 adjustably secures the bracket 69 to the bracket 70 for the purpose of altering the position relative the position of the pivot point 68 to alter the throw of the crossers. In the lever 67 adjacent to the shoulder screw 66 is a fork end 67a which engages a ball end 7311 of a lever 73 to form a universal pivot. The lever 73 is pivoted behind but coaxially with the grub-screw 71. It will be noted that there is no equivalent to the spring 43 of the previous construction.

In operation, the knotter of FIGS. 8 to 11 operates in the same manner as that of FIGS. 1 to 7 with the main difference that there is a positive return action in lieu of the return spring 43 which added an undesirable resistance to the actuation of the knotter. Instead of the cam 42 and roller 41, the cam 64 with its slot 64a together with the bowl 65 rocks the lever 67 about the screw 71 to actuate the crossers. Also the amplitude of actuation of the crossers is adjustable as required by loosening the screw 72 so that the bracket 69 may be slid to a different position on the bracket 70 to change the position of the pivot point 68. Minor features of construction have also been effected, as for example by increasing the length of the spur pinions 18 so that full length of gearing mesh is available in various settings of the tying head assembly, two of which settings are shown respectively in FIGS. 1 and 6.

In the construction shown in FIGS. 8 to 11 a one-piece cover 74 is provided, the attachment for which to the bracket 70 is not shown.

The invention is obviously not limited to all the details of the example above described. For instance, a knotter could be produced for conversion to make more than two different acceptable knots including further knots such as a form of double weavers knot. Also the knotter may be adapted for different threading of the yarn ends from oppsite sides to tie another form of double weavers knot.

The parts of the example described in detail are mainly adjustable also for variation of timing and positioning, which facilities will generally be maintained with advantages obvious both to knotter manufacturers and to skilled users of knotters.

For instance, with the example shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, it is of substantial advantage to be able to adjust the timing of the right hand rotary tying head 19 so that the scissors will operate at the optimum moment, the setting of which may be more critical with certain types of yarn. Such adjustment can be effected by loosening the screw 16 and turning the housing 13 to retime the cam ring 15 which actuates the scissors.

The same reasoning applies to the other knotter constructions above described.

Iclaim:

1. A knotter comprising side plates formed with yarn guide slots, a pair of rotary tying heads between said plates, means for rotating such heads, means on the heads for cutting surplus yarn and holding the yarn ends, at least one set of crossers for positioning the yarn ends relative to at least one of the tying heads, and a stripper for pulling the yarn embryo knot convolutions over the yarn ends, held by at least one of the tying heads, to complete the knot, characterised by a frame on which the parts of the knotter mechanism are assembled as a unit and to which frame the side plates are detachably secured, means for mounting and dismounting a set of crossers adjacent to at least one of the side plates, means for enabling the tying heads to be moved axially to alternative positions relative to the yarn guide slots in the side plates, and means for moving the stripper to register with at least one of the tying heads in each said alternative position of the tying heads without otherwise dismantling the assembly whereby the parts may be assembled in the first instance and reassembled as a knotter for tying any one of a plurality of alternative knots.

2. A knotter according to claim 1 further characterised in that the tying heads are slidably adjustable for effecting the said change of relative position.

3. A knotter according to claim 2 further characterised in that each tying head is rotatably mounted in a housing and restrained from axial movement therein, which housing is slidably adjustable in the frame for setting to alternative positions.

4. A knotter according to claim 1 further characterised in that each tying head is separable from its tying head spindle.

5. A knotter according to claim 1 further characterised by means for adjusting the throw of the crossers.

6. A knotter according to claim 5 further characterised in that the means for adjusting the throw of the crossers comprises spring return means and an adjustable stop.

7. A knotter according to claim 5 further characterised in that the means for adjusting the throw of the crossers comprises positive throw and return cam mechanism and positionally adjustable pivot means to change the leverage.

8. A knotter for tying a fishermans knot comprising a frame, two side plates with known yarn guide slots for such knot, detachably secured to said frame, a pair of opposed rotary tying heads mounted on the frame between said plates and symmetrically centralised relative to said slots, a set of crossers mounted on the side of the frame adjacent to the entry plate, a stripper mounted adjustably on the frame and set for location between the two tying heads and means for actuating the tying heads, crossers and stripper in timed sequence.

9. A knotter according to claim 8 characterised by means for effecting rotational adjustment of the scissorsactuating means of both tying heads.

10. A knotter for tying a weavers knot comprising a frame and two side plates with known yarn guide slots for such knot detachably secured to said frame, a pair of opposed rotary tying heads mounted on the frame between said plates and adjustably located to bring one tying head centred relative to said slots and the other suitably spaced therefrom relative to the said slots, a set of crossers mounted on the frame adjacent to each side plate, a stripper adjustably mounted on the frame and set for location between the two tying heads and means for actuating the tying heads, crossers and stripper in timed sequence.

11. A knotter according to claim 10 characterised by means for effecting rotational adjustment of the scissorsactuating means of the spaced tying head. 7

12. A knotter for tying a fishermans knot comprising a frame, two side plates with known yarn guide slots for such knot, detachably secured to said frame, a pair of opposed rotary tying heads mounted on the frame between said plates and symmetrically centralised relative to said slots, a set of crossers mounted on the side of the frame adjacent to the entry plate, a stripper mounted adjustably on the frame and set for location between the two tying heads and means for actuating the tying heads, crossers and stripper in timed sequence, including a crosser actuating cam, a first lever carrying a cam follower and a second lever operably connected to the crossers.

13. A knotter according to claim 12 characterised by a pivot for the first lever which is adjustable to determine the amplitude of movement imparted by the first lever to the second lever.

14. A knotter according to claim 13 further characterised by fork and ball connection between the two levers.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,128,896 9/1938 Abbott 289-3 2,264,784 12/ 1941 Abbott 289-2 3,166,346 1/1965 Gotz 289-2 LOUIS K. RIMRODT, Primary Examiner. 

1. A KNOTTER COMPRISING SIDE PLATES FORMED WITH YARN GUIDE SLOTS, A PAIR OF ROTARY TYING HEADS BETWEEN SAID PLATES, MEANS FOR ROTATING SUCH HEADS, MEANS ON THE HEADS FOR CUTTING SURPLUS YARN AND HOLDING THE YARN ENDS, AT LEAST ONE SET OF CROSSERS FOR POSITIONING THE YARN ENDS RELATIVE TO AT LEAST ONE OF THE TYING HEADS, AND A STRIPPER FOR PULLING THE YARN EMBRYO KNOT CONVOLUTIONS OVER THE YARN ENDS, HELD BY AT LEAST ONE OF THE TYING HEADS, TO COMPLETE THE KNOT, CHARACTERISED BY A FRAME ON WHICH THE PARTS OF THE KNOTTER MECHANISM ARE ASSEMBLED AS A UNIT AND TO WHICH FRAME THE SIDE PLATES ARE DETACHABLY SECURED, MEANS FOR MOUNTING AND DISMOUNTING A SET OF CROSSERS ADJACENT TO AT LEAST ONE OF THE SIDE PLATES, MEANS FOR ENABLING THE TYING HEADS TO BE MOVED AXIALLY TO ALTERNATIVE POSITIONS RELATIVE TO THE YARN GUIDE SLOTS IN THE SIDE PLATES, AND MEANS FOR MOVING THE STRIPPER TO REGISTER WITH AT LEAST ONE OF THE TYING HEADS IN EACH SAID ALTERNATIVE POSITION OF THE TYING HEADS WITHOUT OTHERWISE DISMANTLING THE ASSEMBLY WHEREBY THE PARTS MAY BE ASSEMBLED IN THE FIRST INSTANCE AND REASSEMBLED AS A KNOTTER FOR TYING ANY ONE OF A PLURALITY OF ALTERNATIVE KNOTS. 